Scassa to stay on grid for rest of 2013

Italian MotoGP™ newcomer Luca Scassa is to remain on the grid for the rest of the 2013 season, having made his debut at MotorLand Aragón last weekend.

30-year-old Scassa was drafted into the Cardion AB Motoracing outfit after regular rider Karel Abraham withdrew for the rest of the season, requiring surgery to his injured left shoulder following a crash in opening practice for the Indianapolis Grand Prix in mid-August. Ahead of the Aragón weekend, the Czech team explained that Scassa’s future would depend on how his first event progressed; his continuation was confirmed after racing from 22nd on the grid to 17th in the race, missing out on a points-scoring debut by just two positions despite being caught up in an incident.

"At the start of the race weekend Luca had no experience and, because he is heavier and taller that Karel, he needed a different setup for the bike," explains Marco Grana, Chief Mechanic at Cardion AB Motoracing. "We had to go step-by-step and we were able to make improvements. Luca is very excited about the bike and we are happy with his result. At the beginning of the race there was bad luck, when Petrucci and Laverty collided in front of him and he lost about ten seconds. However, he was able to speed up quickly and he was getting past riders in front of him. The fact that Luca could shift from Supersport to one of the strongest bikes in the world is a good result and a good basis for coming races for which Luca will be on-board with us."

Scassa was also highly satisfied with his maiden appearance on the ART machine.

"I have to admit that it was very, very tough," he commented immediately. "I have a strained left shoulder because there are many left turns. Anyway, I’m very happy - it’s an incredible experience for me and I have to say thank you to Karel Abraham (Senior) who decided to give me this opportunity. I’m quite satisfied with the result; we did not do bad lap times and it’s just shame that I lost a lot of time because of the collision between Petrucci and Laverty. However, I tried to do my best to catch the riders in front of me. I can’t wait to have another race weekend."

The confirmation of Scassa’s continuation with the Brno-based squad will now see him competing in the upcoming ‘flyaway’ races before heading to Valencia for the 2013 season finale on 10 November. In the meantime, Abraham will be undergoing his shoulder operation early this month.